1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to telephonic communications, and more particularly, to a system and method for recording, archiving and delivering the content of telephonic communications through a centralized archiving facility.
2. Background of the Related Art
The recordation of telephone conversations is well known in the art. Typically, telephone conversations are recorded using a device that is physically attached to a telephone, telephone line or Private Branch Exchange (PBX). Such equipment may consist of traditional analog or digital recording devices installed at the call originating or terminating facility. In large call centers, where a multiplicity of telephone conversations are simultaneously recorded, digital recorders are typically used. These recorders are often mechanically connected to individual telephone lines or to a telephone station on a full-time basis.
It is also known that law enforcement agencies monitor telephone lines by tapping into a monitored line through a central switching office. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,171 to Howe et al. discloses a method and apparatus for allowing a communication from a calling party to a called party to be monitored by a monitoring party, such as a law enforcement agency, and/or recorded without requiring the installation of any physical hardware or mechanical connections at the originating telephone. Instead, a bridge is created between the monitoring and monitored line. In this system, neither the calling party nor the called party are aware of the monitoring or of the recording of their communication. The system disclosed by Howe et al. is not configured to facilitate the delivery of the content of the communication to another party or location, nor does it enable a party to the communication to subsequently retrieve or access the content of their communication. In a special case, a call may be recorded to preserve the content as evidence in a legal proceeding.
Despite the deficiencies of the prior art, there are many reasons why a person would desire to have the content of their telephone calls archived or recorded for subsequent use or transmission. For example, the call may be archived as a memory aid in reviewing the content of a telephone call. Alternatively, the call may be archived as a means by which two parties can enter into a valid contract via telephone, and subsequently provide an electronic version of the oral contract to the contracting parties. The call may also be archived to facilitate a sharing of the content of the call with a colleague or other user, or as a means to authenticate the identity of the parties to a conversation, or as a memorandum.
The subject invention enables a party to a telephone call to selectively command the centralized archiving or recordation of the content of a telephone call without any dedicated physical recording device or hardware. The command can be made while the call is in progress, or a telephone call can be initiated in an archive mode. The central archive system is available on demand so that a large number of potential users can command access to a much smaller number of recording ports. In addition, the subject invention provides a mechanism for the near real-time delivery of a digital or analog file of the content of the archived call to the originator of the call or to a another party in a form consistent with electronic mail, file transfers, or other electronic communication techniques.
The capability to integrate a desk telephone set with a personal computer or other digital recording device has long been known. Typically, through direct electrical attachment or acoustic or magnetic coupling, the connection between a desk telephone and a personal computer analog input port or microphone port may be provided. Such technology causes the content on the analog channel to be digitized and stored to the disk of a personal computer or other storage medium including analog tape. The subject invention eliminates the need to have such arrangement at each desktop or originating/terminating user station, and instead makes such a facility available as a centralized resource on demand.
The opportunity to utilize telephonic archiving on an on-demand basis, adds substantial value to communication technologies. Moreover, the ability to send true copies of a telephonic communication in a standard computer readable format to others over an integrated network or the like is a significant advantage over the prior art.
The subject invention is directed to a unique system to facilitate the selective, on-demand recording, archiving and delivering of telephonic communications through a Centralized Archiving Facility (CAF). The system enables a user, who desires to archive the content of a telephone conversation, to do so through a service or utility function, rather than through the implementation of recording equipment at their individual telephone or location. The system allows access to the centralized archiving facility from any telephone attached to a telephone system which provides a three-way calling, add-on conference, no hold conference or other similar conferencing function.
In operation, a telephone user, about to be engaged in a two party conversation or who is already engaged in a two party conversation, may utilize the inherent add-on conference, three-way calling, no-hold conference, conference transfer or other similar feature provided as part of their telephone set, telephone system or service to link to the centralized archiving facility. As the call is received at the centralized archive facility, it is identified by any one of a variety of means including Caller ID or Automatic Number Identification. The centralized archive facility then causes the call to be archived in a digital or analog format.
The resulting audio or digitized audio file, is then stored and annotated with time and date, the identification of the party who originated the archive process and other information as may be available. Upon completion of the call, the centralized recording and archiving facility transmits the archived content (as a file) back to the originator in a digital or analog format. This transfer is accomplished using techniques known in the art such as, for example, by way of an e-mail attachment, or access to the archive may be provided through traditional Internet facilities such as a web browser or File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
Where the originating party is using a standard, central office subscriber telephone line, the central office feature of three-way calling may be used to access the centralized facility. Where the call originator is operating in a PBX or Centrex facility, the three-way calling, conference, No Hold Conference or similar three-way calling facilities may be used to add in the centralized archiving facility as a third party.
Where the call originator has access to a xe2x80x9cNo Hold Conferencexe2x80x9d facility, the centralized archiving utility may be invoked even while the user has a call in progress without any interruption in the call. This allows the archiving to take place even without the knowledge of the telephone correspondent. Where the user telephone is not equipped with a No Hold Conference facility, the user may initiate the archiving leg of a call, and then add-in the intended party, again allowing the content of the call to be transcribed without the knowledge of the corresponding party.
Where an originating user telephone is not equipped with an appropriate add-on conference, three-way calling, or other facility for originating a second leg of a call, the resulting archiving link may be obtained through the use of two telephone lines. In such a case, a second line is used to establish a call to the centralized archiving facility and the two call legs may be bridged to provide a through connection. Alternatively, the user may call the CAF and command that it add the intended party in a three-way conference call that includes that CAF.
Preferably, the CAF consists of a digital processor with stored instructions that cause any incoming analog or digital telephone call to be received, converted into an internal digital format, and stored to computer disk or other medium for archival storage. Typically, the system has a facility to handle a multiplicity of incoming telephonic channels simultaneously, and store the content of each channel separately to its own individual file or archive. Encryption may be created by means of additional stored computer instructions that use a variety of encryption techniques in which only an authorized person can convert the internal encrypted information into an intelligible playback of audio content by providing a secret password or key.
The system provides the originator or authorized user with a copy of the archive on an automated basis as soon as the communication is completed or via demand through a separate command and control function. Upon completion of the original telephone call, the centralized archive facility will cause the archive to be transmitted via Internet, local area network (LAN) or other transmission capabilities to the originator or designated station without any further interaction between the originator and the centralized archive facility. An e-mail attachment provides a convenient format for this transmission.
Incoming telephone channels may be provided as one or more analog telephone channels. They may also be provided as an aggregate high-speed telephone line where individual channels are multiplexed onto one or more digital channels, in which each of a multiplicity of channels is assigned to a time slot in an aggregated digital channel. As yet another alternative, the system may receive logical channels as a service of data packets when the means of connection is from xe2x80x9cVoice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)xe2x80x9d connection. A combination of these modes may be used.
The system receives incoming telephone calls in either an analog or digital format through commercially available standard interfaces for analog telephony or digital telephony (including Internet Protocol Telephony). In the case of calls received in an analog format, the system relies on analog to digital converter telephony cards which may be implemented in a personal computer or other stored program control computer in which the originated incoming signal is digitized and stored to appropriate short-term and long-term computer memory, typically disk.
The centralized archive facility may further use in-band signaling, typically in a code format referred to as Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF), to allow a caller using the push buttons or touch-tone commands on their telephone set to send certain commands to the centralized facility. The centralized facility may use algorithms or other stored computer procedures to authenticate the user based upon the patterns of speech, energy, or xe2x80x9cvoice fingerprint.xe2x80x9d
The system relies upon traditional telephony, Internet Protocol telephony, and Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) as may be used by the originating telephone set, telephone networks or Private Branch Exchange to which either the originating or terminating subscriber is attached. The system uses traditional, off-the-shelf, analog to digital conversion technology (often referred to as a Digital Signaling Processor (DSP)) or other facilities for sampling the telephone signals at a rate suitable for creating a digital representation of the received audio information. The result is a digital file that may be stored on traditional computer disk, or other memory facilities. Where the voice signal is already in a digital sample format as pulse code modulated or Internet protocol encoded, the signal may be stored without such DSP cards.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the subject invention, the system comprises hardware and software for implementation with a PBX or Centrex system. Alternatively, the system is provided as a utility accessible through the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or IP/Internet network. Such network provided configurations are sometimes referred to as Application Service Provider (ASP) applications. In this case, no equipment need be installed at the customer premises except a personal computer or data terminal used to receive the archived file. The personal computer may be a standard, off-the-shelf PC equipped with Dialogic/Intel or other brand of Digital Signal Processor (analog to digital converter cards(s)) or analog to digital converter card(s)or data terminal with an appropriate instructional software program that is served with an e-mail facility.
It is envisioned that only a minimal number of ports in the CAF will serve a very large population as most individuals will only choose to archive a minimum number of their calls. Thus the need to install hardware devices for recording at a large number of stations is eliminated.
In sum, the subject invention provides a method for recording a telephone call upon demand by a party to the telephone call which includes the steps of receiving a request from a first party to record a telephone call between the first party and a second party, establishing a third-party connection with the first party and the second party, to receive the telephone call, and storing the content of the telephone call in memory.
The subject invention further provides a method for recording a telephone call upon demand which includes the steps of initiating a telephone call with at least one receiving party, and establishing a third-party connection with a central archive to facilitate recordation of the content of telephone call thereby.
The subject invention also provides a system for recording a telephone call at a central archive upon demand by a party to the telephone call which includes means for receiving a telephone call, means for storing the content of the telephone call, and means for delivering the content of the telephone call to a remote location.